We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Pete Murphy - And I Listen

from Now! That's What I Call Wordsmith by Stephen Wordsmith

/

  • Streaming + Download

     

about

My life has its pros and cons, but I can at least say that I have never worked a suicide prevention hotline and fielded a call from my mother. This being a big world, however, someone has. This is his story.

lyrics

When they call
They are nameless
And faceless
And blameless
On each word I hang
On the edge

And they speak with one nail
On the cusp of a trigger
Or one foot hung over
A ledge

And they talk
And they talk
And I listen

As we edged
Towards midnight
She picked up the phone
With her other hand
Cradling the gun

And she told me
My voice
Rang so strangely familiar
In fact, almost like
Her own son

And she talked
And she talked
And I listened

So I asked
Should I lend you
The ear of another
If you feel you have told mine
Enough

But no, she replied
You have my blessing
It's like
I'm confessing
To someone I love

I knew I'd heard that very voice
Escaping from the very lips
Of a soul I knew that wore that very name

It sang a song of failure, sins
Of loss of love and innocence
And no-one else's shoulders for the blame

It soft confessed to every fault
As words and tears would flow and halt
While nighttime slipped through shadows to the morn

Til in the end, the song was sung
Just she and I alone among
A lifetime's burden ever-silent borne

And she talked
And I listened
Til no words remained
She said 'thank you' at last
Then I heard

The dull bray
Of a cartridge
Discarded, and fallen
A click
Then no further word

Now nothing remains
Of that night
But an imprint
Of something in dust
In the shed

And from
That day on
Not the tiniest mention
Of what came to pass
Will be said

credits

from Now! That's What I Call Wordsmith, released October 7, 2019
Written and recorded for 50 Songs in 90 Days, 2017

Lyrics by Stephen Wort
Vocals, all instruments and production by Pete Murphy: petemurphy.bandcamp.com

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Stephen Wordsmith Wellington, New Zealand

contact / help

Contact Stephen Wordsmith

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Stephen Wordsmith, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Seafood Sam joins the show to discuss his newest album, " Standing On Giant Shoulders".
listen now